Covenant Magazine - [Fall 2006]

The Magazine of Covenant Theological Seminary

Covenant

Vol. 21, No. 3

THE POWER of COVENANTAL

Relationship

Fall 2006

FROM THE PRESIDENT

FALL 2006 In this issue, we explore how God works through various covenental relationships.

Each fall, great anticipation fills Covenant Seminary as the campus prepares for the new academic year. We always wonder how the Lord plans to use us to influence the lives and future ministries of the students He brings here to prepare for service. Our faculty and staff pause amid the hustle and bustle to consider anew God’s unique and soul-healing way of living in covenantal relationship with His redeemed people and how, by His grace, the Seminary can provide an environment in which such supernaturally restored relationships may grow and flourish within our community.

In this issue of Covenant, we share with you some of the ways in which this essential relational aspect of life in the body of Christ is nurtured and lived out not only on our campus, but also far beyond it. As those who have been trained here for ministry move out to bring God’s message of hope in Jesus Christ to others around the country and around the world, our prayer is that they will continue to model what it means to live in covenant with God and with others. “Where Are They Now?” on page 6 gives some examples of how our most recent graduates are doing this.

We also hope to convey the sense of promise that comes from living with and loving one another in the context of such relationships. After all, God’s covenantal promises to His people are not simply vague notions that sound good but have no tangible effect in reality; rather, those promises were and are ultimately embodied in the real-life person and work of His Son. As Jesus Himself was and is the perfect, personal, flesh-and-blood statement of God’s love, so we are to be—again, by His grace, and in our own not-yetperfected creaturely ways—personal representatives of Christ’s love so that others might thereby experience the same promises and eternal hope that we have been given.

This covenantal relationship—and the Biblical worldview that goes with it— has profound implications for how we relate not only to each other but also how we interact with new technology. Biotechnology promises great things, but at what cost?

This month’s Perspectives article, “Why the Biotech Future Needs the Church,” considers what it means to be human and urges the Church to grow in its understanding of this from a Biblical viewpoint. As the Church is educated about new technology, members can enter important discussions and play a vital role in these potentially world-changing developments.

As we begin this academic year, I pray that you will experience with us the joy of being loved by the God who desires to be in eternal covenant relationship with you— and who always keeps His promises.

FEATURES

2Discovering Their

Divine Design

Phil Douglass helps students understand their gifts and ministry styles so they can better discern God’s unique call on their lives.

6Where Are They Now? Some of our most recent graduates share where God has called them and how they are serving.

16

FSI Perspectives :

Why the Biotech Future Needs the Church Biotech Expansion, Moral Vacuity, and the Role of the Church

22 Strengthening the Church— One Pastor at a Time

The Seminary’s capital campaign moves forward thanks in part to the commitment of pastors such as Dr. Wilson Benton.

CONTENTS

10

Alumni profile

Steve Smallman Sr. staff Profile Marvin Fornwalt CORE VALUE Relational Emphasis

23

Seminary news

27

alumni news

12

Bryan Chapell, President

COVENANT | Fall 2006

14

B AC K

student Profile

COVER

Aaron Layton

A student shares her personal journey of how God is using Covenant Seminary to foster a deeper and richer love for Him as she increases in her knowledge of His Word and understanding of who He is.

COVENANT COMMUNITY in a student’s words

During my first year at Covenant Seminary, my heart has grown more in light of the Gospel than I could have ever dreamed. The reality and grace of the Gospel have been sweet to my heart. When I came here, my heart was wounded, and I needed to experience God’s healing power rather than just understand the theology of it—which many well-intentioned people had offered to my broken soul. I experienced deep pain when I lost a very close friend to leukemia. This left me questioning the goodness of God and wondering if I was simply serving a theory or if God is who He says He is.

During fall break last year, God graciously used a movie to continue my questioning as well as to reveal that I had formed an understanding of Him that was not true to His nature and character.

Through classes at Covenant Seminary, God used the professors and materials to aid my soul in properly thinking about who God is. If I am honest, I have to acknowledge that before I came to Covenant, my heart had no frame of reference for properly thinking about suffering. I thought that true believers live in a “blessed” world void of pain, one where spiritual truths are revealed to their hearts at every turn. By admitting this, I realize that I have fallen into the common American strand of evangelicalism that places man above God in theology and suggests to its followers that pain is absent from the lives of true believers. I have been foolish to think such things, I know.

Through several conversations that God graciously ordained, I have come to realize that I did not believe that God’s sovereignty and God’s goodness met together as one. However, last semester, God began to show me that not only do they meet, they kiss. Psalm 62:11-12 (esv) says, “Once God has spoken; twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God, and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love. For you will render to a man according to his work.” God’s power and His goodness are one, and separating them would separate the essential essence of who He is.

While in an evening class taught by Dr. Zack Eswine, I realized that there was a gap in my understanding of the Scriptures. For most of my “converted” life, I understood the Scriptures primarily in a spiritual context. Though this aspect is important, I had greatly undervalued the pertinence of the Word’s historical context. This historical context is rooted in reality. So when the Bible talks about Dinah being raped, we know that she was not just stripped in a spiritual sense, but she was indeed physically raped. When the Israelites were led into Babylonian captivity, they were actually taken from their homes and forced to engage in a culture that was juxtaposed to their normal reality. They were not simply spiritually stripped—their lives were actually destroyed.

For the first time, I understood what it meant to have a framework for suffering. God’s people have never been protected from all forms of suffering. Suffering is inevitable in the lives of believers and non-believers. Believers, however, have hope in how they deal with pain if they approach the Scriptures honestly and with the knowledge that the Word is real and true. I now run to the Word that holds all truth and to Jesus, the One who is intimately acquainted with my suffering. He is not distant to our pain, for His pain was felt deeper and louder in all of creation. He suffered loneliness, death, grief—the brokenness of this world.

I can run to the One who holds all victory in suffering. This certainly does not mean that I can escape pain, but it does mean that I know the One who is my forerunner and who has conquered the fear behind my fears. Praise be to God for His Word and comfort and salvation! He makes all things new, even the broken heart. May He continue to turn our hearts to His beauty and the truth that His life on Earth and His death, burial, resurrection, ascension, session, and second coming are real.

Christine Dow Christine is a second-year MAEM and MATS student.

She moved from Birmingham, Alabama, where she worked with youth at Oak Mountain Presbyterian Church.

Discovering Their

DiVINE DESIGN Dr. Phil Douglass helps students understand their gifts and ministry styles so they can better discern God’s unique call on their lives.

It’s not by accident that you have many of the desires and ministry passions that you do. God uniquely designed you to serve Him in a special way, and Dr. Phil Douglass works passionately at Covenant Seminary to help students understand their individual divine design more clearly through his Spiritual and Ministry Formation class. “There’s nothing I enjoy more than helping people catch a vision for what God has for them in the future,” says Phil, Associate Professor of Practical Theology.

“I have a passion to help people grow in accordance with their callings, discover who they are in Christ, and fulfill the purpose that Christ has for them.” Phil uses the theology of vocation set forth by the apostle Paul in the Scriptures as the springboard for his work.

B

“ I have a passion to help people grow in accordance with their callings, discover who they are in Christ, and fulfill the purpose that Christ has for them.”

– Dr. Phil Douglass

ased on Gallup Poll research, Phil explains that 83% of the workforce is misplaced based on their skills and giftedness.

Although you may not immediately think this applies in the Church, from an abundance of case studies and extensive personal experience, Phil knows just how true this is—and the harm and discouragement it can cause in the Church when people attempt to lead in areas outside of their gifts.

“I desperately want the first five years of a graduate’s ministry to be a fruitful, positive experience because then that person has greater potential to stay in vocational ministry for a lifetime.

If that first ministry position does not fit, then we often lose that person from vocational ministry, and I just think that is tragic.”

Phil and his wife, Rebecca, moved their family to St. Louis from Washington, DC, in August of 1986, leaving behind years of God-blessed ministry in church planting and ministry to professionals. They had either planted themselves or helped others start 12 churches in the Washington, DC-BaltimoreWilmington area. This caught the attention of Covenant Seminary’s then-president Paul Kooistra, and he asked the Douglasses to share their ministry at the Seminary by creating a church planting curriculum. “We were having such a good time in Washington, DC,” Phil shares, “because everything

we touched it seemed the Lord blessed. So we said no. As soon as we said no to Paul Kooistra, everything we touched seemed to turn to dust. Our family went through sicknesses and various other hardships and trials.” Rebecca nods and says with a relieved laugh, “It was a terrible nine months. We call it our ‘Job year.’ ” When Phil couldn’t sleep one night and was wrestling in prayer about what the Lord was communicating to them, “It became clear,” he says. “We were supposed to move to Covenant Seminary.”

Spiritual Growth and One’s Calling

After teaching at the Seminary for six years, God gave Phil discernment into another gap in the curriculum. It lacked a spiritual formation class. “A portion of the students were surprised by the trials and tribulations of ministry. So I designed a course around my heroes who have taught me spirituality,” Phil shares. “For example, Charles Spurgeon taught me how to pray. I personalize each class around different contemporary and historical figures and ask, ‘What specifically did this person learn from the Word of God through his various crises, and how did he grow from these providential occurrences?’ ”

www.covenantseminary.edu

“Stories are so important,” says Rebecca, who coteaches the evening section of the Spiritual and Ministry Formation class and leads breakout sessions with the women—many of them spouses who are auditing the class. “Students often say how blessed they are by hearing the struggles of these heroes.”

In addition, Phil saw a need to help students understand their personal calling. Phil explains that calling has two aspects: “First, you are called unto the Lord—that’s salvation,” he says. “Second, you are called to a particular service unto the Lord to work in accordance with your gifts—and this is not just serving in the Church but in the marketplace and home as well. Metaphorically, this means discovering whether you are a hand, a foot, an eye, or an ear in the body of Christ.” During students’ time in this class, the foundational question each one reflectively considers is, “How am I, with my unique gift mix, created in Christ to serve?”

Former student Jerry McKittrick (MDiv ’97) and current assistant network administrator at Covenant Seminary, really grappled with this question. “This class is key to learning how to ‘...think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you,’ ” (Rom. 12:3) Jerry states.

To assist students in discerning their vocational gifts, Phil has them take various personality and gifts tests and fill out a Ministry Passion Assessment that asks them to list ministry priorities as well as finish sentences such as: “People I’d like to have special on-the-job training with…,” “If I could be involved with any ministry it would be…,” and “People have been blessed by my service when….” From these assessments, each student writes a 50-word Calling Clarification Statement.

Phil takes all this data and spends one hour per student (two hours per married couple if the spouse is taking the class for credit) talking about what the assessments indicate regarding that

“ God has called us to walk in the freedom that Christ has purchased for us, and that freedom is to be about our Father’s business.

When we are, then the fruit of the spirit is manifested.”

– rebecca Douglass person’s or couple’s vocational ministry direction. “Sometimes the Lord will give him insights,” Rebecca says, “and I’ll think, ‘Where did he get that?,’ but then the student will say that the very thing Phil mentioned had been on that person’s heart.” Phil smiles and says, “I’ve lost count of the number of times students have asked, ‘How did you know that?!’ Those experiences are so thrilling and invigorating. I’ve got the best job on the planet!” Rebecca agrees with an affirming laugh and adds, “That’s what I love about this

COVENANT | Fall 2006

ministry—it helps us discover what it means for each of us to be about our Father’s business for us.” She appreciates how 2 Corinthians 10:12 speaks to this idea. “When people measure themselves by one another and compare themselves to one another, they are without understanding because each of us has a God-given role,” she points out, explaining the verse.

This wisdom still impacts Jerry. “Submitting to the Scriptural teaching that says, ‘We have different gifts, according to the grace given us...’ (Rom. 12:6) has been a lifelong struggle for me,” Jerry shares. “Looking back to my time at seminary—and this class in particular—helps me appreciate the complexity and the beauty of how God intends us as a church body to work together to glorify Him.” As students become more aware of their gifts, Phil talks with them specifically about what seems to be the best ministry direction for them based on the material they’ve written for him.

In addition, he urges students to pray and seek God’s direction for how He desires for them to use their gifts to further His Kingdom purposes.

Phil interacts with all his students about their assessments so they can discern the vocational ministry calling for which they seem to be best suited. During the following few years, they can test their results in field service opportunities (a requirement for the MDiv and MAEM degrees). Phil estimates that when new MDiv students enter Covenant Seminary, about half of them have a good idea of what God is specifically calling them to do in vocational ministry. One-fourth of the students think they know, but, through their discussions with Phil and their field service, they move in another ministry direction. The other one-fourth do not have a clear idea of their ministry direction when they start, but the way becomes clear after meeting with Phil and participating in

141 PCA Church Plants by Covenant Seminary Graduates

from 1958 to 2004

PCA addressing these issues. His passion for unity in the body fueled his writing of Your Church Has Personality, scheduled for publication by P&R Publishing within the next year.

Recently, he stepped in to help revive a dying church in the St. Louis area. Each adult in the church went through the assessment process, and the results were remarkable. Many of the people in the church were misplaced in accordance with their gifts and talents. “One woman was gifted in worship, but she was in charge of an administrative aspect of the ministry,” Phil explains. “When someone with the gift of organization took over that role and the other woman moved to worship, both of their ministries flourished.”

Still in awe, Rebecca shakes her head and smiles at the thought of the amazing transformation that took place at that church. “The woman gifted in worship draws you to the throne of God,” she shares. “We’ve seen the effect this work has on people’s lives. It is their joy in the Lord that brings health to the church To access the assessments that body. When people are Phil Douglass’ students take, passionate, you don’t have visit www.covenantseminary.edu/ to encourage them because phildouglass/diagnosticsforcalling they are self-motivated. clarification.pdf.

The pastor can help people Another excellent resource is discern their callings and The Call: Finding and Fulfilling the how to use their gifts while Central Purpose of Your Life by assisting them in finding Os Guinness. Phil requires students their niches in the church. to read this book for his class.

This enables each person to fulfill his or her calling.

Then the passion of the people is infectious, and it makes for happier families and fruitful ministries.”

Jerry acknowledges the personal influence of this God-given approach. “Learning to appreciate the ways in which God has gifted me and desiring to use those gifts for His glory began in Dr. Douglass’s class,” he says. “It has taken years to fully appreciate the value of it, but, in retrospect, I would say it is one of the most important aspects of my seminary training.”

Right now, Phil feels like he’s at the height of fruitfulness in his ministry, and much of that stems from taking students through this process of discerning their callings. He and Rebecca consider their 20 years of faithful service at the Seminary a blessing. “The Lord has His hand on Covenant Seminary,” Phil says. “There’s no doubt about that. And we’ve had front row seats to see what He is doing.” Rebecca nods and adds her characteristic enthusiasm about the ministry. “We feel so privileged to see God’s hand so mightily at work in our students’ lives” she says. “I stand in awe of God’s graciousness.”

21 Mission to the World Church Plants by Covenant Seminary Graduates from 1962 to 2003

Curious About Your Calling?

their field service work. During students’ last year, they take Ministry Leadership with Phil and again have one-on-one meetings with him. This time, they talk about what they’ve learned about themselves and their vocational ministry calling during seminary so that when they graduate, they have a much clearer sense of what their Father’s business is for them.

A statistic that includes 250 seminaries across North America indicates that 34% of all MDiv graduates who enter vocational ministry in the Church leave the pastorate within five years.

For Covenant Seminary graduates, however, that stat is 6.8%.

When determining factors that contribute to this low average, it’s hard to overlook how God is equipping church leaders to remain in ministry through His blessing of Phil’s ministry.

Expanding Ministry to the Church

As good of a job as the Seminary does in equipping students to recognize and fulfill their callings, a new struggle has emerged: incompatibility of ministry styles between pastors and churches.

Phil describes the great distress he feels when a graduate accepts a job at a church that is not compatible with his ministry style.

Most often it’s not a struggle over theology or methodology— it’s simply different styles. He speaks passionately about the devastating effects on pastors and their families when a pastor doesn’t fit well in a particular church environment.

Phil has created a method to determine a church’s ministry style which involves having the church’s 30 most influential opinion leaders fill out one of the same assessments as his students. Then he matches those results with the assessments taken by his graduating seniors to determine the degree of compatibility between the two.

The quest to educate churches about ministry styles is one that Phil takes on with great conviction, feeling that so much of the heartache churches experience in their erroneous choices of pastors and staff is preventable. Amazingly, he is a bit of a lone voice in the wilderness—he seems to be the only leader in the

Jackie Fogas Jackie took Dr. Douglass’s class in the fall of 2005. At that time, she was a newlywed married to a first-year MDiv student. She gained great insight about herself as well as her and her husband’s gifts and strengths. From this encouragement, she looks forward to seeing how God will use them to accomplish His purposes.

www.covenantseminary.edu

The Lord has been faithful to call and equip

Matt Ballard (MDiv ’06) is

another class of students to serve a world in

the shepherding pastor at

need of hope. Here is how some of the Spring 2006

Perimeter Church (PCA) in

and Fall 2005 graduates are responding to God’s

Duluth, Georgia. He is

call on their lives. Please rejoice with and pray

pastor to The Gathering,

for them as they serve the Lord in new ways.

Perimeter’s ministry to the

SPRING 2006 GRADUATES

Linda Bryan

Where Are They Now? emerging generation. He is

Linda Bryan (MAC ’06)

also on the teaching team.

remains at her internship site, Kirkwood Baptist Church, and

moved to San Antonio, Texas, where she is pursuing licensure to be a licensed professional

Jennifer Baker (MDiv ’06,

counselor.

MAC ’06) remains in St. Louis

As of graduation, Karen

where she works as a coun-

(GC ’06) and Seth (MDiv ’06)

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selor in training at Christian

Anderson planned to stay in

Psychological & Family Services.

St. Louis until the Lord calls them elsewhere. They feel a burden and calling for the

COVENANT | Fall 2006

Matt Ballard

New England area and are pursuing opportunities there.

serves in its counseling ministry.

Elizabeth Bright (MAC ’06)

Ray Call

Seth Anderson

Jennifer Baker

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Todd Brooks (MDiv ’06) is the

Ray (MDiv ’06) and Michele

planting pastor of Immanuel

Call are working with

Evangelical Free Church in

Mission to the World and

South St. Louis City. They

Border Evangelism and Mercy

anticipate a launch date of

Ministries (BEAMM) in Tijuana,

September 10.

Mexico. They are focusing on church planting along the US-Mexico border where

and oversees all of the admin-

Slope Presbyterian Church in

will be at work in mighty ways.

istrative management. This

Brooklyn, New York. He has

First Presbyterian Church of

They are expecting their fifth

coming year, his primary task

been called as a church plant-

Biloxi and developing relation-

involves establishing the foun-

ing apprentice and, Lord will-

ships with people there.

dations for a second campus

ing, will be called as assistant

child and rejoice in God’s grace.

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closer to the inner city, which

pastor. He has been accepted

Luke Calvin (MAC ’06) serves

acts on their vision to partner

into Redeemer Fellows Program, a church planting fellowship

at Chesterfield Presbyterian

with area churches to see edu-

Church near St. Louis as the

cation as a means of Gospel

with Redeemer Presbyterian

director of Crossfire Ministries

transformation in St. Louis.

Church in New York City.

for fourth and fifth graders.

They hope this second campus

He also works as a counselor

will open in the fall of 2007.

forward to being involved with

Kristofer Holroyd (center)

they hope and pray that God

Kristofer (MDiv ’06) and Jone Holroyd accepted a

Counseling Services.

call to ministry in Lithuania

wife Rebekah, and their family are in Bentonville,

Bruce Farrell

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David Campbell (MDiv ’06),

Bill Grall (left)

at the church’s New Hope

on behalf of International Theological Education Ministries. In addition to Bill Grall (MDiv ’06, MAC ’06)

regular pastoral duties with the

is pursuing assistant pastor

Evangelical Reformed Church

Arkansas, starting a new chain

Bruce Farrell (MATS ’06,

and youth pastor positions

of Lithuania, they work with

of coffee houses. They hope

MAC ’06) is pursuing a career

across the US. While in the

Baltic Reformed Theological

to get a church planting team

in law enforcement in the

candidating process working

Seminary to train pastors,

out there and have been

St. Louis area. This has been

on his presbytery internship, he

elders, teachers, and lay lead-

talking with Mission to North

a longtime passion and interest

remains in St. Louis working as

ers. Kristofer was accepted to a

America about the process.

that has resurfaced during his

a personal banker at US Bank.

school in Belgium where he will

to seek God’s justice and peace

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PhD in Old Testament studies.

in this arena.

Kurt Greenwood (MAEM ’06)

seminary years. He feels called

in Biblical studies in the

residency includes a paid stipend as he completes four Clinical Pastoral Education units. He hopes to be a hospice

Steve Jones (MDiv ’06) is excited that God has called

Chris Fisher (MDiv ’06) is

chaplain. If this doesn’t work

the full-time pastoral assistant

out, he plans to use his train-

him to be the senior/solo pas-

New York City.

at Crossroads Presbyterian

ing to serve a local church.

tor of Westminster Presbyterian

director of administration and

Fellowship (PCA) in

Church in Paxton, Illinois. His

Maplewood, Missouri.

family will move there after he is licensed, probably in early

Stephanie Hargis

Laura and Jamisom Galt

Ed Eubanks

Department of Theology at Fordham University in

Ed Eubanks (MDiv ’06) is the

in Chesterfield, Missouri. The

Steve Jones (center)

is starting a PhD program

residency at St. Luke’s Hospital

Chris Fisher and Family

Phillip Dennis

has begun a one-year chaplain

Phillip Dennis (MAET ’06)

pursue a ThM and eventually a

September. He asks for people to pray for their transition and for him as he prepares for licensure and ordination.

Stephanie Hargis (MAEM ’06) has been called into marriage

Jeremy Kicklighter (MDiv ’06)

development for Wildwood

Jamison (MDiv ’06) and Laura

with David Kooienga. They

has taken a job at Covenant

Christian School in Wildwood,

(MATS ’06) Galt and their twin

married on July 1 and live in

Seminary in the Admissions

Missouri. He teaches classes

children have headed to Park

Biloxi, Mississippi. She looks

Office, where he focuses on

www.covenantseminary.edu

Jeremy Kicklighter

He hopes to write some in the

his wife, Julie, are in his home-

near future and one day teach

town of Charleston, South

at a Bible college or seminary.

Carolina, where he is pursuing an MA in Southern history at the College of Charleston (COF). He is also working in

and changed through his time at Covenant, is excited about

Tony Myles

recruiting new students. He, having been so greatly blessed

Kelly Richter (center)

Otis Pickett (MATS ’06) and

Church in Ottawa, Illinois.

the opportunity to serve other

Kelly (MAC ’06) and David

an assistantship position at

Richter remain in St. Louis

the Avery Research Center for

where she works at Kaizen

African-American History and

Counseling Services and David

Culture at COF. After this, they

finishes his last year in the

will apply to various schools so

Seminary’s MDiv program.

might also be blessed.

that Otis can pursue a PhD in

They are expecting a son (Sam),

American Southern History.

who is due in August.

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Tim LeCroy

Tanya Myles

potential students so that they

Jon Price (MDiv ’06) accepted

Pete Scribner (MDiv ’06)

Tony (MDiv ’06) and Tanya

a call to Murrysville Community

accepted a call to serve as

(MATS ’06) Myles and their

Church (PCA) as assistant pas-

the assistant pastor of young

family moved to Knoxville,

tor of children and youth. The

adults at Calvary Presbyterian

Tim (MDiv ’06) and Rachel

Tennessee, in June. Tony is the

church is located in Murrysville,

Church (EPC) in Flint, Michigan.

LeCroy remain in St. Louis

solo pastor of a church plant

Pennsylvania, about 20 miles

His wife, Erin, and their chil-

where Tim is pursuing a

of about 25 to 30 members.

east of downtown Pittsburgh.

dren, Jack (age 6) and Caroline

PhD in Historical Theology

They would appreciate prayer

The Prices live in Monroeville.

(age 2), minister with him.

at St. Louis University and

as they serve in this endeavor.

Rachel works full time as a

Brian Parr

Eric Shanburn

Michael Quillen

client services assistant at The Keane Insurance Group.

Eric (MATS ’06) and Jennie

was called as the pastor

(MAC ’06) Shanburn moved

and Karsee (MAC ’02) Parr

of First Presbyterian Church

back to the Detroit, Michigan,

and six-month old daughter

in Crossville, Tennessee.

area. He is employed by Holy

Greg Lex (MATS ’06) accepted

Madeline (a future alum?)

They expect their fifth

Cross Children’s Services at a

an intern position at Fellowship

remain in St. Louis. Brian

child in November.

residential treatment facility for

Bible Church in Little Rock,

works with Kaizen Counseling

Arkansas. He and wife Amy

Services as a staff counselor

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ation, Jennie was still looking

are in a church planting

and at BJC Behavioral Health

Margaret (MAC ’06) and

for employment and planned

residency program that lasts

as a case manager for children

Peter Reynolds returned to

to volunteer with the OCD Foundation of Michigan.

Greg Lex

Michael Quillen (MDiv ’06) Brian (MDiv ’06, MAC ’06)

delinquent boys. As of gradu-

for one year. They will then

with mental illnesses and

New Zealand. Peter teaches

begin planting a church

their families.

at Grace Theological College and Margaret heads up a

somewhere in the Midwest.

continues to serve the congregation of Southside Christian

COVENANT | Fall 2006

Aaron Shelton

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Lloyd Ludwick (DMin ’06)

Otis Pickett (center)

counseling center.

Aaron Shelton (MDiv ’06)

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had a full schedule of speaking

is pursuing a career in law

Matt Kodatt (MATS ’05)

at retreats and conferences.

is the director of youth

In the spring of 2007, she

and worship at Covenant

will teach a communication

and his family (wife Jennifer

earned her degree through

and children Millie and Davis)

the Seminary’s distance educa-

remain in St. Louis with

tion program. She remains in

St. Paul’s Evangelical Church

Tennessee and continues her

in Creve Coeur, Missouri.

personal pursuit of studying

Greg is getting licensed as a

church history. She looks for-

pastor in the EFCA and will

ward to spending more time

become the associate pastor

with her five adult children

of youth and worship.

and her grandchildren.

Their Deuteronomy study was published by Christian

University in St. Louis as well

Education & Publications this

as interning at CrossRoads

summer. Along with this, she

Christian Counseling and

enjoys her continued work

at Christian Psychological &

as a full-time homemaker and

Family Services. He works as a

piano teacher in St. Louis.

in South St. Louis City.

States Air Force. He recently

of Potomac Hills Community

became the wing chaplain

Church (PCA).

Daniel McKinney (MDiv ’05,

at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany. His family transi-

Glenn Sparks (DMin ’06)

tioned in the middle of

continues to serve as the senior

to this new phase of their

in Ramsey, Illinois, where he

ministry to the men and

has been for eight years.

pastor/church planting apprentice with Jordan Presbyterian Rick Matt (MATS ’05) is

summer and began adjusting

pastor of First Baptist Church

MAC ’05) serves as an assistant

Rick Matt

a fighter base in western PHOTO NOT AVAILABLE

women of the air force.

He asks for people to pray

relations at Covenant Seminary,

for the Kingdom of Christ to

where he is blessed to serve

advance in this state.

while pursuing his passion for writing and editing. He is

David Stancil

also privileged to serve as a ruling elder with Cornerstone Presbyterian Church in South Kathy Kirk

St. Louis County. Rick and his wife, Rebekah, expect their fourth child in August.

David (MDiv ’05) and Mia (MATS ’06) Stancil are serving at City Church in San Francisco, California, where David is a pastoral intern.

counseling setting, she looks for opportunities to

was ordained in the Illiana serves as the youth minister

Mary Beth McGreevy

Mia Stancil

as a technical illustrator.

Though it’s not a formal

Aaron Myers (MDiv ’05) Presbytery in April. He currently

Kathy Kirk (MAC ’05), remains at Boeing working

Church in West Jordan, Utah.

associate director of public

the seminary community

FALL 2005 GRADUATES

finishing his Masters in Counseling at Missouri Baptist

a chaplain in the United

Virginia, as the senior pastor

a series of Bible studies.

Hospital and helps Zion City

continues his ministry as

continues to serve in Leesburg,

her former pastor, cowrote

Tim Lang (GC ’05) is

Church build up its new base

Robert Wido (DMin ’06)

Dave Silvernail Jr. (DMin ’06)

PHOTO NOT AVAILABLE

patient care tech at St. Alexius

PHOTO NOT AVAILABLE PHOTO NOT AVAILABLE

about leading women’s retreats.

She and George Robertson,

Greg Volpitto (MDiv ’06)

Dorothy Shelton (MATS ’06)

practicum at the Seminary

Paso Robles, California.

Daniel McKinney

PHOTO NOT AVAILABLE

Presbyterian Church in

Aaron Myers (red collar)

like to hold a position at the federal level.

Greg Volpitto

enforcement. He ideally would

be a listening ear to those around her.

at Center Grove Presbyterian Church in Edwardsville, Illinois.

He works with both junior and senior high students in the church and around the area.

Since graduation, Mary Beth

On August 6, 2005, he married

McGreevy (MDiv ’05) has

Danielle LeGare.

www.covenantseminary.edu

ALUMNI PROFILE

Passion for PASTORS R

ev. Steve Smallman Sr. (BDiv ’67) stands in a small corner room. Four pastors—doctor of ministry (DMin) students at Covenant Theological Seminary—sit around the table. Books and papers are scattered across the table surface.

The men listen intently as Smallman speaks; from time to time, they interject questions and comments. His baritone voice fills the room with a warm enthusiasm as he talks. Steve’s strong hands move with excitement as he expounds on the book of Romans.

“As pastors,” he says, “we are called to appeal back to the experience of believers rather than to abstract theology. It isn’t unbiblical to ask someone, ‘Do you remember the patience of God working and how it was that the grace of God broke in at the beginning of your new life?’ ” After more than 40 years of pastoral ministry—including four years as the executive director of World Harvest Mission—Smallman spends much of his “retired” time teaching classes such as this one, GraceCentered Discipleship. Discussing the process of salvation, Smallman concludes, with a look that is full both of seriousness and joy, “This is the Gospel as it is lived out in us.”

Smallman finished his undergraduate degree at Bob Jones University in 1962. “That was a time of pilgrimage theologically,” he explains. “After teaching school for one year in Greenville, South Carolina, we moved to St. Louis to finish seminary.”

COVENANT | Fall 2006

After graduating from Covenant Seminary, Steve and his family took their first full-time call at a small church in McLean, Virginia. “When I went there, I never expected that I would be part of one church for 30 years,” Smallman explains. “The church had about 60 people when I arrived. I was only 27 years old.

I really shouldn’t have been a pastor, but…” he pauses, then adds, “that’s the way God works. I tell people we grew up together— my family literally grew, I grew spiritually, and the church grew to roughly 1,200 members by the time I left. That sounds like a big jump, but stretched out gradually over a 30-year timeframe, it’s just plodding along.”

The unique reality of Smallman’s years in ministry is how God allowed his life to overlap two major streams in the life of America—one political, one spiritual. The city of McLean serves as a bedroom community for the Washington, DC, area. As a result, Steve witnessed firsthand a significant span of American history. “It was a time of enormous cultural shifts,” Smallman reflects. “Lyndon Johnson was the President when we first arrived. We were there in the Nixon years. Some members of our church were part of his administration. During that time, Charles Colson became a friend, and I was involved in the beginnings of Prison Fellowship. During the Reagan years, Dan Quayle attended our church and worshiped with us during his time as

10

Vice President. And Bill Clinton was President when I left.”

Yet, even in the context of these political waves, another circle of influence was imposed on the culture of spiritual understanding for Smallman and for many others.

“I remember when Dr. Francis Schaeffer spoke at the Seminary in 1965,” Steve recounts. “The notes he was using became his book The God Who Is There. At the time, God was bringing me along to a fuller understanding of Reformed theology. I’d never heard of a ‘worldview framework,’ but as I listened to Schaeffer, I knew he was right.” In the same way that the cultural-engagement of Schaeffer impacted Smallman’s apologetics, a friendship with Jack Miller (founder of World Harvest Mission) helped shape his understanding of grace. “Jack Miller was a man like Francis Schaeffer in many ways. He had some basic vision and some ideas that powerfully impacted other people and helped shape a whole generation,” Steve says.

The flavor of Smallman’s teaching beautifully reflects the richness of these influences. Speaking to this class of DMin students, Smallman says, “Spiritual life does not begin with conversion but with calling. Jack Miller said that we must wed grace and Gospel.” As he continues teaching, Steve, who considers himself a fan of theologian Archibald Alexander, reads aloud from Alexander’s work Thoughts on Religious Experience: “Many of our young preachers, when they go forth on their important errands, are poorly qualified to direct the doubting conscience or administer safe consolation to those troubled in spirit. In modern preaching, there is little account made of the various distressing cases of deep affliction under which many serious persons are suffering.”

Smallman has, in many ways, given his lifetime in ministry to teaching on this spiritual birthline. He has even written a book on the subject, Spiritual Birthline: Understanding How We Experience the New Birth (Crossway Books, 2006). Steve explains, “In many cases, to think of the pastor as a spiritual physician is a new thought. But pastors must be fluent in two areas.

First, the pastor has to search the Word. I’m confident that many are getting that training. But pastors also have to be skilled in discerning the work of God in the souls of men,

“ ...it is an exciting thing to be part of God moving into a person’s soul.”

– rev. steve smallman SR. discerning how the fruit of the Scripture impresses itself on the hearts of people. And that is not so easy.”

As class continues, Steve encourages this group of seminary students saying, “I want to talk to you as those who will be caring for the souls of people. I want to talk about an old phrase—to speak of the pastor as the physician of the soul. The challenge before you is to be those who are sensitive enough to be a meaningful part of God’s cure of souls. We’ve lost a fundamental art of the pastoral ministry, which is learning to listen and discern.

We can never do it perfectly, but for future pastors—those who will work with young people and children, who will work in frontline Gospel ministry and watch the Spirit of God effectually call people to Himself—it is an exciting thing to be part of God moving into a person’s soul.”

His strong hands move with excitement again, and Smallman concludes with a tone of serious joy. “We are not called to be salesmen for Jesus,” he says, “but we are called to be midwives— to come alongside as the Spirit of God moves to bring about this wonder of new birth. We don’t make the change, but we pray, ‘Lord, let us be a part of this amazing work of raising the dead, of bringing new life into the world. Give us a passion to want to be part of the birthing of people into the Kingdom and coming alongside them, nurturing them as physicians of the soul who have an expertise both in the truth of the Word and in the work of the Spirit in the hearts of men and women.’ ”

Joel Hathaway Joel Hathaway (MDiv ’04) serves as Covenant Seminary’s director of alumni and church relations.

11

www.covenantseminary.edu

Marvin Fornwalt

+

{the equation}

STAFF PROFILE

understanding Investing in Covenant Seminary involves more than just dollars and cents.

As pizza gets passed around at a typical ministry lunch in the basement of Edwards Hall at Covenant Seminary, Marvin Fornwalt says something directly opposed to what students usually hear in this seminary classroom: “It’s not necessary that you grasp all of the concepts and information I present to you today. There are only two things you need to remember,” he says.

{multiple uses} F

=

irst, I want you to understand that the financial choices you make today will directly impact your future. And, second, I’m available to talk with you.” As Covenant Seminary’s director of planned giving, Marvin has spent the past 11 years working with donors who want to support the Seminary through giving of their estates or other resources. He helps them structure their gifts in ways that maximize the benefits to them in tax breaks and best support the Seminary. “I never imagined that an accountant could have a ministry. But God uses all of our various gifts and abilities,” he says.

Unexpected joy and blessing came when Marvin began to extend his work to interact with students. It began with his participation in teaching an aspect of the Candidating and Transition Into Ministry course. In this class, he talks to future pastors about how to approach their compensation packages— a very practical concern for upcoming graduates. The thought of finances—future salary and current situations—often generates feelings of uneasiness and fear.

“All of this is a ministry,” Marvin says. “It doesn’t matter if I’m talking to a donor or a student. I want them all to accomplish what God has laid on their hearts.”

COVENANT | Fall 2006

For Marvin, it took more than 50 years to truly grasp what it means to be financially successful. “Financial independence and financial success are not the same thing,” he says with conviction. “Living within the structure of what God provides equals financial success.” Marvin seeks to be a voice of Godly wisdom for Covenant Seminary supporters and students in regards to stewardship—something he wished he had in his early years.

As students became aware of Marvin’s secular career in investments and annuities and his work as a CPA, they began to ask his unbiased opinion about their situations. “I don’t have a program for people to consider,” he says, explaining why many people feel so comfortable asking him questions. Marvin’s insight usually helps people discover ways to redirect their resources so that they can make more resources available. “When we show ourselves faithful and concerned with what God wants, it’s amazing what God provides and entrusts to us,” he shares.

As God leads donors to give to Covenant Seminary, Marvin wants them to understand that “every dollar has a part in impacting every student. Period,” he says. “As a group, that impact is huge. The Presbyterian Church in America [PCA] is considered by many to be a moral compass, and it is these students who will shape the PCA’s future.”

12

{market value}

+ – Impact $

THE

{contribution} {difference} Marvin continues, thinking of his own personal call to minister at the Seminary. “If I can affect students and their lives, it’s going to affect ministry,” he says. “That’s important to me. If we as individuals do it right, it will impact the Church in ways that we alone never could. If we are faithful in ministry, God will provide.”

For more than a decade, Marvin has spent time with people who he considers the cream of the crop—students and donors. “I feel like God used the first 55 years of my life to equip me for what I’m doing today,” he shares, candidly recounting the years he pursued the awards and accolades of men rather than God’s blessing.

He continues to emphasize impact, mostly because he didn’t understand this concept until so late in his life. He shares one example, recalling an experience of founding faculty member Dr. R. Laird Harris who was once asked to name his most widely known student. Dr. Harris said it was Francis Schaeffer. “When you think of Francis Schaeffer and that he was taught by one of our faculty members, you get an idea about impact,” Marvin explains, “though we’ll never know the full extent in this life.”

Marvin doesn’t serve in this capacity for the feedback, but he does feel encouraged when students and donors keep him updated about how they have been positively affected by his work with them. In this way, Marvin continues to learn the value of impact—and not just the financial kind. It reminds him that investing in people reaps priceless rewards.

Taking Control Of Your Finances

As a former CPA with broad experience,

Marvin recommends the following resources to assist you in being a good steward of

the resources God has entrusted to you.

WEB SITES w www.moneymanagement.org

(offers a variety of budgeting and debt management tools) w

www.morningstar.com

(evaluates most stocks and mutual funds) BOOKS w Financial wT he

Peace Revisted by Dave Ramsey

New Master Your Money: A Step-by-Step Plan for

Gaining and Enjoying Financial Freedom by Ron Blue Software to Organize Your Finances w

Microsoft Money

wQ uicken

Jackie Fogas Jackie is the public relations senior copy and special projects editor at Covenant Seminary.

13

www.covenantseminary.edu

Core Value #4

Q

Seven core values amplify and clarify how Covenant Theological Seminary understands its purpose. In the fourth installment of our series on these core values, Jerram Barrs, professor of Christian studies and contemporary culture and resident scholar of the Francis A. Schaeffer Institute, discusses the origin of Covenant Seminary’s relational emphasis and shares how it is lived out in the seminary community. Rather than answering individual questions, Jerram chose to respond to our questions in a unified manner, weaving together many thoughts on this subject.“There are many practical reasons relevant for our students’ future ministries to which I could appeal in addressing this matter of relational emphasis,” Jerram writes, “but it seems most important to give a theological foundation.”

Relational Emphasis: We believe that the relationship between students and professors must take a meaningful place alongside teaching content so that we may affect the entire character of the student for ministry. Therefore, we seek to develop a faculty of pastor-scholars and a staff who both individually and as a community effectively model what it means to walk with God, interpret and communicate God’s Word, and lead God’s people.

Relational

It

is our conviction as a seminary that in all we do we should be governed by God’s Word and by what God has revealed about Himself, so I will begin addressing this idea of being relational by considering the nature of the Godhead.

Within the Trinity there has been love and personal communication through all eternity. Jesus speaks about this love with which the Father loved Him before the foundation of the world in His high priestly prayer in John 17:24. John also tells us in 1:18 that the Son is the only God who is at the Father’s side (or “in the bosom of the Father”). I remember Francis Schaeffer preaching “Before the Beginning,” a marvelous wedding sermon in which he dwelt on this eternal love and intimate fellowship between the members of the Trinity which existed before this universe was ever made. This means that we live in a reality which, before all else, is personal and relational.

We as human persons have been created in the likeness of this personal and relational God, though our humanness has, in every aspect of our nature, been desperately flawed by disobedience and all its consequences. However, despite the fall and the selfcenteredness and separation from others that flowed from it, we are taught by Scripture that true humanness can only be expressed and enjoyed when we give ourselves to others in a life of love. When we look at the life of Christ, the eternal Son, we see Him living a life of self-giving and servant love.

Interestingly, we read a remarkable statement in John 13:23 where John is called the “beloved disciple.” The expression used in this passage in Greek literally means “in the bosom of,” which is the same expression used in John 1:18 to express Jesus’ relational proximity to the Father. Just as the Son is at the Father’s side (“in the bosom of the Father”), so the disciple John is “in the bosom of Jesus.” In Jesus’ humanity we see a full expression of the

Questions For Jerram This article addresses these and other

questions about the Seminary’s core value of a Relational Emphasis. wW hat

does being relational look like, and how is the character of a student better prepared for ministry by this emphasis?

w

What do you think it looks like to model this relational emphasis, and how do you see faculty members embodying it?

w I t

seems that older men in the church are not inclined toward being relational. How is this core value of the Seminary fostered among faculty members?

w B ecause

this generation of students is not inclined to reach out, how do faculty members pastor students and keep them from falling through the cracks?

wT ell

us how you have seen this emphasis affect the lives of students and professors.

COVENANT | Fall 2006

14

love and relationships between the members of the Trinity.

Christ, who died that we might be united to Him as His brothers and sisters and friends, is now at work in us—His coheirs—to overcome all the consequences of the fall in our lives. He is restoring us to true humanness as we become conformed to His likeness by the power of the Spirit. This will mean that wherever there is true faith in Christ, there will be a life that begins to imitate the love of Christ. The apostle Paul calls us to have the mind of Christ so that we think more highly of one another than of ourselves and give ourselves to a life of service, loving one another as Christ has loved us.

For me, the realization of this calling to such a high degree is one of the great joys of working at Covenant Seminary. I am deeply glad to come to work each day. Every week it is a pleasure to go to faculty meetings. I think of my fellow teachers as the people I most admire in the world. I often say to our students

A

EMPHASIS that my colleagues are my personal heroes and that I am more eager to hear what, say, David Jones or David Calhoun thinks than I am to hear my own opinion on a particular issue. This very evident love and respect between us has, by God’s grace, a powerful impact on the hearts and lives of our students. When my wife, Vicki, had cancer surgery and then chemotherapy, the level of care we experienced (from both faculty and students) was greater than I could possibly have expected or imagined.

Our prayer as a faculty and administration is that the Lord will grant us this kind of a life together so that our students may catch a vision of the way all ministry should be marked by love, mutual honor, self-giving, and sacrificial service. The Seminary’s Francis A. Schaeffer Institute also seeks to embody this core value. One of our emphases is a “commitment to genuine humanness expressed in servanthood and love and displayed in supernaturally restored relationships.” We express the Institute’s purpose this way because Francis Schaeffer often said that one essential consequence of our being Christians is that there should be substantial healing of our brokenness demonstrated in our lives, and one of these elements is to be supernaturally restored in our relationships. This affects our interviews with prospective faculty members. We want to ensure that the men who join us share this understanding of our calling. We look for men who are pastors as well as scholars, men who will give themselves in relationships with our students in addition to teaching them and writing excellent books.

Clearly because we all teach that this commitment to love and to servant relationships is at the heart of the Gospel, it is essential that we try to model this lifestyle to our students as well as among ourselves. Christ is the peace between us and God and between us and one another; therefore the divisions which so often exist between people—whether personal, cultural, racial, or economic—ought to be overcome among those who have faith in

Christ. For our faculty, there is a deep commitment to break down the barriers that exist in our culture. Dr. Williams, Dr. Collins, Professor Perry, and I (with additional input on occasion from Dr. Calhoun, Dr. Jennings, Dr. Dalbey, and Professor Bradley) team-teach Covenant Theology for the whole first year of the curriculum. This past spring, we wept as well as laughed with gladness at the lecture Dr. Collins gave on the history of redemption. He spoke with great passion about the mystery of the Gospel being what overcomes the divisions between peoples and races. We seek to practice this as well as teach it, and the consequence of this has been close personal relationships with many minority students.

Our commitment to supernaturally restored relationships also means that all of us spend many hours each week one-onone with students as well as two hours in our weekly meetings with our Covenant Groups. (These are groups of 10 first-year students and one professor who gather to share and pray with one another.) Professors here are required to set aside five office hours each week to meet with students, but I often find that this is inadequate to meet the needs. The effect of this is the development of close friendships with many students, many of which endure long after the students have graduated and taken positions of ministry. One of the primary reasons I accept invitations to speak outside the Seminary is to serve our students once they are out in the ministry. I estimate that this translates to at least seven or eight weekends away each year preaching and teaching for our graduates in addition to any local teaching and preaching engagements for those ministering in the St. Louis area.

One of the challenges of this commitment to spend considerable amounts of personal time with students is that many of our pastors-in-training have either no father to model for them what it means to be a godly man or a poor or distant relationship with their fathers. While this schedule may be challenging, one of the deepest satisfactions of working here is seeing young men who have impoverished relational backgrounds growing and flourishing in the grace and love of the Gospel and seeing such young men learn what it means to love and serve their wives, their families, the Church, and unbelievers.

In addition to trying to live this out among ourselves, we seek to teach this life of love in our classrooms. For example, in the Pastoral Theology class, I frequently will say to the students, “If you ever invite me to come and preach at the church where you serve, or do an outreach weekend for you, or speak at some conference for you, I won’t ask people what kind of a preacher you are. Rather, I will ask the secretaries and administrative assistants, janitors and cleaners, what it is like to work for you, for this will reveal far more of the true nature of the ministry in a church and of the advance of the Kingdom than any questions about your preaching.” Students may have very great gifts, but unless they learn to live lives of love, they will be merely “noisy gongs or clanging cymbals.” (1 Cor. 13:1 esv) JERRAM BARRS

Jerram Barrs serves as professor of Christian studies and contemporary culture and resident scholar of the Francis A. Schaeffer Institute.

15

www.covenantseminary.edu

PERSPECTIVES

Why the Biotech Future Needs the Church Biotech Expansion, Moral Vacuity, and the Role of the Church

S

everal years ago, computer scientist Bill Joy wrote an article titled “Why the Future Doesn’t Need

Us,” and it presented a startling account of what the future might hold if we leave it to the technocrats. We are standing just over the threshold of the biotech century with all its promises but without a compatibly robust morality by which to guide our decisions about daily emerging technologies.

We have entered an era of unprecedented biotechnological development. At the same time, ours is a period of equally unprecedented moral vacuity.

This article is adapted from a Friday Nights @ the Institute lecture and discussion in St. Louis in 2005. It has been updated to reflect developments in this field.

Futurists claim that the twenty-first century is what Jeremy Rifkin (Foundation on Economic Trends founder) called “the biotech century.”1 Richard Oliver, professor of management at Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management, has announced that what he terms “the Bioterials Age” will “complete the triumph of economics over politics, which was begun in the Information Age. It will unleash forces stronger than nationalism and more powerful than the combined armies of the world.” 2 The future, Oliver believes, portends great benefits from biotechnologies such as genetic engineering, cloning, cybernetics, nanotechnology, and a litany of neologisms yet to be invented. Humanity’s technological advances will result in what might be described as a technological utopia or “technopia.” According to Oliver, the technopian future will bring, among other developments: w Creation

of life in a lab.

w Predetermination

of the sex and genetic makeup

w Bioelectronic

noses, tongues, ears, and heads to test industrial and consumer goods and provide new levels of real-time health care assessment.

w Biosynthetic

skin, blood, and bone, as well as a precursor human “master cell” that can be directed to grow new bone and cartilage.

w New

materials for products and packaging that repair themselves and adapt to the environment.

w New

materials that swell and flex like muscles to replace human muscle and machine power in factories.

w A

“smart mouse” that points the way to eliminating

aging in humans.3

At first blush, this may all sound wonderful. But we should ask: “What are the costs of such a future?” I do not mean merely the financial costs. I mean the human costs. Without being unduly pessimistic, this kind of future may portend human tragedy, a loss of human dignity, and a world increasingly hostile to those concerns that transcend the purely materialist world of scientific research.

of children. w Pharmagenomics,

which directs and tailors drugs to individual genotypes.

w The

ability to “program” out of human genes the propensities to contract various diseases and illnesses.

w Genetically

derived therapies for the prevention and cure of most cancers, heart disease, AIDS, and other diseases, including new strains of vaccine-resistant ones such as malaria.

w The

ability to repair damaged brain cells and spinal cords.

w Production

of proteins that fight infections or treat such problems as growth deficiency.

w Mass

production in a lab of at least six FDA-approved monoclonal antibodies, which, when injected into a patient, hone in on the antigens that populate the surface of cancer cells.

w The

ability to clone mammals, including humans.

w The

ability to control aging and obesity.

w Animals

that can grow replacement organs for the 50% of humans who currently die before getting transplant organs from human donors.

What Is Biotechnology?

Biotechnology is what Robert Bud calls a “metaindustry,”4 and it is big business. The Biotechnology Industry Organization represents and lobbies for more than 1,100 companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers, and other organizations in all 50 states and more than 60 countries.5 Investment in U.S. biotechnology alone increased from $3 billion in 1993, to $93 billion in 1997, to $20.9 billion in 2004.

So we must acknowledge that biotechnology is a marketdriven body of businesses whose primary purpose is to make profits.6 As Colin Ratledge says, “Biotechnology is not then a science: it is a means of applying science for the benefit of man and society. In practice, this means that biotechnology is used to make money—or in certain instances to save money.” 7 Its entrepreneurial aspects most assuredly affect the methodology used by those who work in the field. For instance, Nobel Prize winner Arthur Kornberg points out that what is called the “targeted research” agenda of many institutions may have deleterious consequences on future discovery.8 Rather than knowledge for knowledge’s sake, the biotech industry pursues knowledge for money’s sake.

17

www.covenantseminary.edu

What it Means to Be “One of Us”

our biological thinking and existence with our technology, resulting in a world that is still human but transcends our biological roots.

There will be no distinction, post-Singularity, between human and machine or between physical and virtual reality.12

To add to the benefits and burdens of biotech entrepreneurialism, biotechnology is becoming increasingly naturalistic and materialist, threatening to recast our understanding of what it means to be human—what it means to be “one of us.”

The melding of the human and the machine will mean a disembodied existence in the realm of the nonbiological.

That is, humans will merge with computers and the vast network of other computer minds. “The principal assumption,” maintains Kurzweil, “underlying the expectation of the Singularity is that non-biological mediums will be able to emulate the richness, subtlety, and depth of human thinking.”13

Displaced by the Future?

In How We Became Posthuman, Katherine Hayles argues that mortal human beings are rapidly becoming an endangered species.9 If Carnegie Mellon University professor Hans Moravec’s vision of a robotic future is realized, human beings will have to fight for their own survival against an unlikely enemy. Moravec writes:

Human as Function

A proper response to these developments requires us to reestablish what it means to be human. If being human is all about the information in the brain, then supercomputers might be able to contain that library of data. Silicon might supplant biology. But being human is actually all about having a mother.

That is to say, according to the Biblical witness, being human means being the offspring of human parents. Furthermore, beings that are human are not so because they possess or lack certain functional capacities such as reason, volition, and selfawareness. Any given functional capacity can be gained or lost, but humanness is neither—it either is, or it is not.

Human beings either are imagers of God, or they are not human beings. Imagers of God either are human beings, or they are not imagers of God. The mistake some philosophers and theologians have made is unpacking the imago Dei in terms of functional capacities. Arguing that the image of God is to be defined as a set of such functions as rational capacity, volitional capacity, and sociability is doubly deadly. First, it is contrary to Scriptural revelation. The passages that speak to the image of God (e.g., Gen. 1:27, 5:1, 9:6) never divide the imago Dei into constituent parts. It is an ontological category rather than a set of functional categories. Second, as soon as one explicates a list of functions, capacities, or activities that are sine qua non to humanness, one capitulates to those who say that some humans do not have lives worth living. We have been there before.14 American slavery, the Holocaust, and the twentieth century abortion debate are representative of efforts to relegate some members of our species to less than fully human status.

The implications of this “dehumanization” are huge. They span nearly every biotechnology, including cybernetics and transgenics. If what it means to be “one of us” is understood as a set of functional capacities, then some biological humans are not, in fact, humans, and some computers might be developed to have functional capacities that will make them “human” (or at least be treated as human).

iological species almost never survive encounters with superior B competitors...When the isthmus connecting North and South America rose, it took only a few thousand years for the northern placental species, with slightly more effective metabolisms and reproductive nervous systems, to displace and eliminate almost all the southern marsupials.

I n a completely free marketplace, superior robots would surely affect humans as North American placentals affected South American marsupials (and as humans have affected countless species). Robotic industries would compete vigorously among themselves for matter, energy, and space, incidentally driving their price beyond human reach. Unable to afford the necessities of life, biological humans would be squeezed out of existence.10 Notice that “biological humans” would cease to exist. So what kind of humans would survive? Here is what Moravec suggests: umans can be enhanced by both biological and hard robotic H technologies. Such present-day examples as hormonal and genetic tuning of body growth and function, pacemakers, artificial hearts, powered artificial limbs, hearing aids, and night-vision devices are faint hints of future possibilities. Mind Children [his 1988 book] speculated on ways to preserve a person while replacing every part of body and brain with superior artificial substitutes. A biological human...could grow into something seriously dangerous once transformed into an unbounded superintelligent robot.11 One may cynically take these as the musings of a lunatic, but Moravec is well respected and the founder of the world’s largest robotics program.

Similarly, in his most recent book, The Singularity Is Near, inventor Ray Kurzweil argues in more than 650 pages why he thinks humans will one day transcend their biology. Actually, Kurzweil says that humans will reach “the Singularity” in 2045.

Human as Body

The Singularity will represent the culmination of the merger of COVENANT | Fall 2006

Similarly, we must not define what it means to be “one of us” as

18

merely having a human body. Philosopher Steve Sapontzis makes such a claim in the journal Ethics when he suggests: he behavior of a normal, adult dog is T more...intelligent, and self-aware than that of a human infant or a human adult suffering some severe muscular, neurological, or mental disorders; yet a dog is still not considered a person...while these humans are. No matter how superior its behavior, a dog can never be a person... because it does not have a human body.15

“While the stock judges are testing the Holsteins, Jerseys, and whitefaces in the stock pavilion, we are judging the Joneses, Smiths and the Johns.”

Mary T. Watts, co-organizer of the first “Fitter Families” contest at the 1920 Kansas Free Fair

But Mary Anne Warren argues otherwise.

Body, she says, is not necessary to what it means to be a person.

I believe that the ordinary concept of a person is less closely linked to the possession of a human body than Sapontzis supposes.

Children’s books often depict animals as persons, who speak, wear clothes, drive cars, and live exactly like human beings.

While this is fantasy, it demonstrates that the existence of non-human persons is not inconceivable . . . he philosophical lesson of those stories is that, just as a being T need not belong to one’s own sex, race, or tribe in order to be a person, neither need it be biologically human, or of terrestrial origin.

It need not even be a living organism. Personhood is a psychological concept, not a biological one. It is a being’s mental and behavioural capacities that make it a person, not the shape of its body, the microstructure of its chromosomes, or any other strictly physiological characteristic.16 So, merely functional definitions of human beings and biological definitions of human beings both lead to disastrous results—namely, that some humans are not persons and therefore do not deserve protection from harm. Furthermore, some non-humans are persons and therefore deserve protection before humans. In this light, it is easier to understand Moravec’s assertion that robots might one day rule the world and Joy’s fear that he might be right.

While Bill Joy may not quite grasp the answer to his own questions, this is, at the root, what worries him—and for good reason. For while computers and robots may never become “one of us,” some will doubtless attribute to them human characteristics and—it is not inconceivable to imagine— human rights, including a right not to be harmed. One day it may be illegal to unplug a computer and so end its “life” at the same time that it is an ethical duty to unplug a human being whose biology has ceased to function efficiently.

The Future Needs the Church

The Church plays an extraordinarily critical role in a biotech

world as ambassadors of Christ, those who are called by His name are to represent Him in all of His offices. Confessional churches have understood the offices of Christ to include prophet, priest, and king.17 As prophet, Jesus reveals the Word of Truth, the Word of God, to expose and inform our ignorance of God’s will and way. As priest, Jesus was both the one who performed the sacrifice as well as was the final sacrifice, offering up His own sinless life as a propitiation for our transgressions. As king, Christ is Lord to rule over and protect His people. He alone is sovereign—a benevolent dictator—and owns the right to rule over the universe, including every human being.18 The ambassadorial role of the Church means that the Church also functions in the three-fold offices of Christ. He is the head, and the Church is His body—mystically and vitally joined to Him in living union.

Dutch theologian R. B. Kuiper put it this way: rganizations have officers. The church, too, has its officers.

O However, at this point, as at so many others, appears the unique glory of the church. Whereas in other organizations a limited number of persons is wont to hold offices, in the church every single member is an officer.

Nor is that the whole truth. There are in the church three offices.

They represent Christ, the Head of the church, as prophet, priest, and as king. Now each church member holds not merely one or even two of these offices, but all three. Every single church member is at once a prophet, priest, and a king. That surely spells glory.19 Not only do individual members serve in these threefold offices, the people of the covenant—the Church—function at one and the same time as prophet, priest, and king. Under this Biblical and theological schema, the role of the Church in the world— including its role in biotechnology—may be understood. For the purposes of this article, I will explore only the prophetic role of the church with respect to biotechnology.

19

www.covenantseminary.edu

Proclamation

The prophet is sent from God to speak on behalf of God as God’s representative to His own people. In his monumental Old Testament Theology, Paul House maintains that “God’s prophets are sound interpreters of the Law, faithful carriers of divinely revealed future events, and accurate mediators of God’s will.” 20 Like the prophets of old, the Church in its prophetic ministry functions as both forth-teller (proclaimer) and fore-teller (predictor) of the Word of God. Just as it was the role of the Biblical prophets and of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself to speak only what God had said,21 so the Church is to communicate God’s truth.

Through her prophetic ministry, the Church proclaims the true and authoritative Word of the living God, the Creator of the universe. While the Church herself is not infallible, she does proclaim the infallible Word.

For instance, God’s revelation accounts for human origins and the unique nature of human beings.22 Even more impressively, God’s Word accounts for the experiences of life and death and the otherwise inexplicable nature of the human condition (such as the thirst for human relationships and the sinfulness of humanity). Thus, when Christians claim that human life is the result of the special creative work of God who fashioned us in His own image and likeness,23 they appeal to a transcendent authority, namely Biblical revelation.

Rightly interpreted, the Bible alone provides a reason to treat human beings with genuine dignity and provides a rationale for the sanctity of human life. Human beings—unborn, born, disabled, healthy, unhealthy, or aged—possess sacred value because they are made by God in His own image.24 In its prophetic role, therefore, the Church declares to the world that all human beings owe their existence and unique value to the God who has made them. Basing her anthropology on the authority of the Word of the sovereign Lord, the Church elevates human life—the crown and glory of God’s handiwork.25

ing persons when, for example, persons act in accord with the Samaritan imperative27 than when individuals adopt an “everyone for himself or herself” mentality.

We must avoid being too simplistic. Because we live in a fallen world, sometimes temporally bad consequences follow even the best intentions. But even this is foreseeable when the human condition is viewed in the light of Biblical theology.

Knowing that human nature is fallen gives the Church a potent predictive power. In some cases at least, the potential for evil uses of otherwise good technologies can be controlled if society takes seriously the doctrine of human depravity. Take the case of genetic research. The Human Genome Project has already led to relief of some human suffering and the cure of a few diseases. Because of the Church’s understanding of the human propensity to sin, however, we can predict that unless restrictions are adopted now, the information gained from the project will be used to harm many individuals.28 Genetic information has already been used to discriminate against persons in such cases as the eugenics movement in America,29 the Jewish Holocaust and the Nazi experiments,30 and sickle cell screening in the 1970s.31 Because human nature has not changed, the Church can foresee abuse in the future unless Scriptural norms are carefully followed.

Covenant Education

Finally, because the role of the prophet is first and foremost to declare the Word of the Lord to God’s covenant people, the Church—if she would be obedient to her appointed role— must mount a massive educational ministry to help Christians understand biotechnology from a Christian worldview perspective. That is to say, because all truth is God’s truth and because we live in a world that faces the brave new world of biotechnology, Christians have an obligation to understand how God’s revelation applies to new technologies.

This means that seminaries will have to equip ministers to address the ethics of genetic engineering, gene therapy, transgenics, stem cell research, and a growing number of other issues.

Currently, most seminaries provide only limited opportunities to address these difficult areas. This is unfortunate because these are, and will increasingly become, the context of thorny pastoral problems. Pastors are even now being asked to provide counsel regarding artificial reproductive technologies, but few are prepared to help because they find themselves uninformed not only about the technologies but also about how to think about them.

Further, the Church, in her prophetic role, must use her regular educational ministry to develop a Christian mind on these issues. Every church member has a stake in the biotechnology revolution. Bioengineered plants and animals are already sold in grocery stores, often without labeling. Gene therapy will increasingly become the standard of care for many illnesses. Attempts will soon be made to create biochips for downloading information stored in the human brain. Nanotechnology promises to create machines the size of molecules that will perform complex func-

Warning

The Church also has a unique role in its prophetic ministry as fore-tellers of truth. A commitment to scriptural authority gives the Church predictive power. The Church may proclaim on the basis of God’s authority that, for instance, sinful choices have deleterious consequences.26 Believers can predict accurately that tragic results will follow when any precept, principle, or virtue revealed in Scripture is violated. For instance, when God’s ideal for human sexuality—either one man and one woman in a one flesh relationship for life or celibacy—is violated, the consequences are disastrous. The dissolution of the family and the trauma of divorce are the results of ignoring these profound truths.

Furthermore, through her prophetic ministry, the Church can predict that blessing ultimately will follow adherence to God’s revealed norms. When society respects the sacred value of human life, for instance, all human experience is enriched and ennobled.

The world enjoys more compassion and deeper concern for hurtCOVENANT | Fall 2006

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tions and microsurgery inside the human body. In sum, not only is biotechnology remaking the world, it also may remake human beings. Unless there is a context for Christians to discuss these technologies within the framework of a Biblical ethic, there is no hope that they will be able to make informed decisions about the use of these technologies.

Finally, through her prophetic role, the Church must help shape public policy related to biotechnology. Each of these technologies will require laws or policies to regulate or in some cases (such as cloning a human being) outlaw their use. At this point, relatively few Christians—and even fewer churches—are informed about these issues. What’s more alarming is that they do not know how to impact the public policy process. This must change if the Church is to be a faithful prophet to her culture and to her members.

Recommendations for Prophetic Ministry In the Biotech Century w T o

more faithfully fulfill her prophetic role, churches must make it a priority to teach Christian ethics in general and bioethics in particular.

w P astors

should preach and teach Biblical anthropology because all of these biotechnologies impact human beings positively or negatively.

w Seminaries

must carve out either curricular or extracurricular opportunities for students to learn about the developments in biotechnology and learn the skills to interpret technologies from a Christian worldview perspective.

w C hurch

educators must rethink the educational ministry of their churches and give increased attention to bioethical and biotechnological issues.

w C hristian

institutions and policy groups should increase dedicated funding and personnel resources toward biotechnology policy, including international policy work.

w C hristian

students should be encouraged to pursue vocations in biotechnology and the sciences. Individuals can impact biotechnology at the local level by bringing their convictions

to bear in their own vocations.

The future does need us. But it needs us now. We stand at a momentous threshold. The decisions we make as a nation and as a global community will have lasting implications for the future.

Biotechnological momentum is gathering. Decisions we make today about biotechnology will set wheels in motion that will impact our grandchildren and their children’s children for either good or ill. We must bring a genuinely Christian worldview to bear on the issues facing this “brave new world.” If we do not, who will? If not now, then Bill Joy may be right—the future may not need us.

DR. C. Ben Mitchell Dr. Mitchell is an adjunct professor in the Bioethics Certificate program at Covenant Theological Seminary and is editor of the journal Ethics and Medicine: An International Perspective on Bioethics. He also teaches bioethics and contemporary culture at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.

NOTES Jeremy Rifkin, The Biotech Century: Harnessing the Gene and Remaking the World (New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam Publishers, 1998).

2 Richard W. Oliver, The Coming Biotech Age: The Business of Bio-Materials (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2000).

3 Ibid., pp. 36–7.

4 Robert Bud, The Uses of Life: A History of Biotechnology (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993), p. 190.

5 The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) is the world’s largest trade organization to serve and represent the emerging global biotechnology industry. According to BIO president Carl Feldbaum, “biotechnology has become a significant economic force, with more than 1,300 companies, nearly $13 billion in annual revenues and more than 100,000 people on its direct payroll.” BIO Editors’ and Reporters’ Guide to Biotechnology 1996–1997 (Washington, DC: Biotechnology Industry Organization, 1996), p. 1.

6 “Making money” is not necessarily negative. In fact, a charitable reading of the biotechnology industry’s goals leads to the conclusion that the industry is highly altruistic. For instance, Amgen (Applied Molecular Genetics), the world’s largest independent biotechnology company, states that its mission is “to serve patients by transforming the promise of science and biotechnology into therapies that have the power to restore health or even save lives” (www.amgen. com/about/mission_values.html). Similarly, as an introduction to their company, they declare: “At Amgen, we believe our primary purpose is to ‘use science and innovation to dramatically improve people’s lives’ “(www.amgen.com/about/corporate_compliance_compliance_summary. html).

7 Colin Ratledge, “Biotechnology: The Socio-economic Revolution? A Synoptic View of the World Status of Biotechnology,” in E. J. Da Silva, C. Ratledge, and A. Sasson, Biotechnology: Economic and Social Aspects (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992), p. 1. Interestingly, Ratledge maintains that “Altruistic biotechnology does not exist or if it does it simply consumes money and does not generate it” (p. 3).

8 Cf. “Pros and Cons of Biotech Ventures,” Chapter 8 of Kornberg, The Golden Helix, pp. 231–58.

9 N. Katherine Hayles, How We Became Posthuman: Virtual Bodies in Cybernetics, Literature, and Informatics (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1999).

10 Hans Moravec, Robot: Mere Machine to Transcendent Mind (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999), p. 134.

11 Ibid., p. 142–143.

12 Ray Kurzweil, The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology (New York: Viking Adult, 2005), p. 9.

13 Ibid., p. 145.

14 See my “Of Euphemisms and Euthanasia . . .” [CITE] 15 Steven F. Sapontzis, “Critique of Personhood,” Ethics, 91 (July 1981), p. 608.

16 Mary Anne Warren, Moral Status: Obligations to Persons and Other Living Things (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997), pp. 93–94.

17 The Second London Confession (1689), for instance, says, ‘This number and order of Offices is necessary; for in respect of our ignorance, we stand in need of his prophetical Office; and in respect of our alienation from God, and imperfection of the best of our services, we need his Priestly office, to reconcile us and present us acceptable unto God: and in respect to our averseness, and utter inability to return to God, and for our rescue, and security from our spiritual adversaries, we need his Kingly office, to convince, subdue, draw, uphold, deliver, and preserve us to his Heavenly Kingdome’ (Ch. VIII. Art. 10), W. L. Lumpkin, Baptist Confessions of Faith, rev. ed. (Valley Forge, PA: Judson Press, 1969).

18 1 Peter 3:1ff.

19 R. B. Kuiper, The Glorious Body of Christ (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1966), p. 126.

20 Paul R. House, Old Testament Theology (Downer’s Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1999), p. 222.

21 John 8:26, 28; 15:15.

22 Genesis 1–3.

23 Genesis 1:27.

24 It is important to note that human life does not possess “intrinsic” value. The notion of the intrinsic value of human life is popular, but technically incorrect. Human life is not valuable in and of itself; it has value because God has invested it with value. Thus, human life derives its value from God. 25 Psalm 8.

26 “A man reaps what he sows” (Gal. 6:7b).

27 Luke 10:30ff.

28 See my pamphlet, Genetic Engineering: Bane or Blessing? (Nashville: The Christian Life Commission, 1994).

29 Daniel J. Kevles, In the Name of Eugenics: Genetics and the Uses of Human Heredity (Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1985).

30 Robert Jay Lifton, The Nazi Doctors: Medical Killing and the Psychology of Genocide (New York: Basic Books, 1986). Arthur L. Caplan (ed), When Medicine Went Mad: Bioethics and the Holocaust (Totowa, NJ: Humana Press, 1992).

31 Marque-Luisa Miringoff, The Social Costs of Genetic Welfare (New Brunswick, NJ: Rugers University Press, 1991). Dorothy Nelkin and Laurence Tancredi, Dangerous Diagnostics: The Social Power of Biological Information (New York: Basic Books, 1989).

1

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www.covenantseminary.edu

capital campaign

Strengthening

the Church One Pastor at a Time

H

benefits of which reach far beyond the Seminary campus. He believes that initiatives sponsored by the Center—such as Intersect, the Pastors Summit, the Pastor-inResidence program, and the annual Connect Conference, as well as related continuing education classes, degree programs, and lay training opportunities—are essential not only for preparing individual pastors, ruling elders, and other congregational leaders, but also for maintaining their long-term spiritual health and ministerial effectiveness. When these leaders are properly equipped and powerfully energized for ministry, their enthusiasm will flow out from local churches to the regional and national levels and beyond. The result will be a revitalized Church that is on fire for the Lord and eager to proclaim His Word to a world in need of transformation.

“I wish I’d had the opportunity to be involved in something like this years ago,” Benton emphasizes. “It’s a way of ministering to pastors and encouraging them, helping to keep their fires lit—but it’s also a way of ministering to the PCA, and, Lord willing, it will create a cycle of success that will spill over into the larger Church.”

Benton says that he has received nothing but positive feedback on the Seminary’s campaign proposals from the many church leaders with whom he has talked. “All of them support the idea, even if they may not be in a position to give financially right now. They see that, by God’s grace, this campaign will actually support them too—it’s a win-win proposition.”

In the end, then, what excites Benton most about this campaign is that he sees God working through it and through Covenant Seminary to strengthen and grow His Church— one fruitful pastor at a time.

Wilson Benton (left)

aving served in the ministry for more than 40 years, the last 20 of them as senior pastor of Kirk of the Hills Presbyterian Church in St. Louis, Wilson Benton knows what it takes to be a pastor in today’s world. As an adjunct professor of practical theology at Covenant Seminary, he also knows how important proper training, ongoing support from fellow ministers, and continuing education opportunities can be for equipping pastors to serve with excellence for a lifetime.

That’s why Benton is so excited to be part of the Seminary’s

By His Grace, For His Glory Executive Campaign Committee and why he enjoys asking fellow PCA churches to support the capital campaign.

Benton’s goal is to raise $2 million for the campaign’s ministerial development component. These funds will primarily support the work being done by Covenant Seminary’s Center for Ministry Leadership. The Center works to enhance the Seminary’s understanding of what makes pastors effective in ministry over the long term and helps incorporate what is learned into its ministry-training programs.

Benton’s involvement with the Center for Ministry Leadership’s Intersect forum—in which effective pastors gather with ruling elders who are successful business owners to explore the ways in which the managerial, financial, and interpersonal aspects of churches and businesses intersect—has given him firsthand experience of how such interaction can create principles and practices that increase the effectiveness of both church and business.

“It’s very avant-garde for a seminary to be doing something like this to support pastors and pastors-to-be,” he notes. “Nobody is better poised to do this than Covenant Seminary.”

In Benton’s view, the work of the Center is a perfect balance between investigative research and practical results, the

COVENANT | Fall 2006

Rick Matt Rick Matt (MATS ’05) is associate director of public relations at Covenant Seminary.

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SEMINARY

news

Faculty News

Accomplishments

Earlier this year, Preaching magazine’s annual “The Year’s Best Books for Preachers,” article included the following comments about books by Covenant Seminary professors.

During his academic-year To find out about Seminary sabbatical in the fall of 2005 happenings and events, and spring of 2006, J. Nelson visit our Web site at Jennings wrote Americans and www.covenantseminary.edu.

Missions (scheduled for publication in December 2006, P&R Publishing). He spent time researching Muslim-Christian relations, which included trips to Southeast Asia and West Africa. From this research, he wrote several articles that were published in various books and journals including the Nigerian Journal of Christian Studies.

w “ Far as the Curse is Found: The Covenant Story of Redemption

by Michael D. Williams (P&R Publishing) is a model of theological engagement and the study of Scripture.” w “ Significant works of interest in the field of Church History

include…Grace Abounding: The Life, Books and Influence of John Bunyan by David B. Calhoun (Christian Focus).” w “ Bryan Chapell offers an insightful understanding of prayer

in Praying Backwards: Transform Your Prayer Life by Beginning in Jesus’ Name (Baker Books). ‘Jesus so loves us that He uses the privileges of His exalted position and the affection of His heavenly Father to ask the best for those who pray in His name,’ Chapell explains. ‘And because Jesus speaks for us, the Father who loves Him treats us with affection out of love for His own child.’ ” w “ Other works of interest…include…Perfecting Ourselves to

Death: The Pursuit of Excellence and the Perils of Perfectionism

by Richard Winter (InterVarsity Press).”

OverSEXposure

In March, Covenant Seminary hosted Dr. Harry Schaumburg, a licensed counselor and the executive director of Stone Gate Resources in Colorado. The mission of Stone Gate Resources is to point people away from sexual brokenness to restored intimacy with God and others.

Dr. Schaumburg spoke in chapel and was the featured speaker at a ministry lunch. In conjunction with the ministry lunch, he led the men’s breakout session afterward. The chapel sermon, A Clean Heart, A Clean Mind:

Calendar

Accolades

New Appointment

Dr. Daniel Kim joins the staff as Assistant Professor of Hebrew and Educational Ministries. Dr. Kim, son of Korean missionaries to Thailand, holds degrees from California Institute of Technology and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, where he received master of divinity, master of theology, and doctor of philosophy degrees. He has taught for several years as a visiting instructor of math and physics at Trinity International University.

He is a teaching elder in the Presbyterian Church in America who has served in pastoral ministry in Connecticut and Virginia.

Dr. Kim and his wife, Tammy, have three children.

Restoring Sexual Purity in the Life of the Church was based on Hebrews 13:14.

It addressed questions such as “How does Christianity and sexuality intersect?,” “How are you a sexual being and single?,” “What sexual temptations plague the Church and its leaders?,” and “What does God desire for you?” The ministry lunch drew a larger-than-expected crowd. The topic was “The Truth About Your Sexuality: A Foundation for Personal Purity.” Men and women were able to discuss specific issues in their separate follow-up breakout sessions.

23

www.covenantseminary.edu

SEMINARY NEWS

(CONT.)

Library News Center for Ministry Leadership

A $5,000 mini-grant sponsored by Duke Continuing Studies (Duke University) will allow Covenant Seminary’s Center for Ministry Leadership to bring together deans of students from several Reformed seminaries for a time of fellowship and learning. The mini-grant is an outgrowth of the Sustaining Pastoral Excellence initiative of Lilly Endowment Inc. Research findings from one of the Center’s initiatives reveal that pastoral excellence is directly related to categories that traditionally fall under the purview of deans of students.

Therefore, the Center believes it is important to gather deans of students to discuss the implications of these findings for seminary life. It is expected that these gatherings will provide a rich opportunity for the cross-pollination of ideas and will bear much fruit in our institutions and congregations. The first meeting will take place November 6– 8 in St. Louis.

COVENANT | Fall 2006

The J. Oliver Buswell, Jr. Library has implemented several exciting new services that will make research easier and more efficient. One of the highlights is “Find Full-Text with LinkSource” because it enables a student to discover whether there is an electronic full-text version of any article or review and how to retrieve it.

This new feature provides both a link to the library’s cataloged holdings of the print version, if owned, as well as an interlibrary loan option. Today Buswell Library can secure most items in hard copy form within hours or, in the case of books, within two workdays.

FSI Update

w I n the spring, more than 150 people

attended the Yom HaShoah recital as an outreach of Covenant Seminary to commemorate the 6 million Jews who perished in the Nazi concentration camps. Yom Hashoah is the Holocaust remembrance day established by the Israeli Parliament in 1951. w I n May, Jerram Barrs, Resident Scholar

of the Francis A. Schaeffer Institute, was in Hungary as the keynote speaker at a leadership forum.

24

SEMINARY NEWS (CONT.)

Faculty Books

In the Public Square

In June, Dr. Zack Eswine spoke at an event in Carmel, Indiana, sponsored by several mental health associations in the state.

He spoke for 20 minutes on depression and led a question-and-answer time after the talk of main speaker Joshua Shenk, author of Lincoln’s Melancholy: How Depression Challenged a President and Fueled His Greatness. Mr. Shenk’s book has been featured on NPR and has won many awards. Dr. Eswine’s talk was put into a booklet for those who attended the event. It was a great opportunity for Dr. Eswine to speak as a follower of Jesus in a nonreligious setting.

C. John Collins Genesis 1-4: A Linguistic, Literary, and Theological Commentary (P&R Publishing, 2006)

Campaign Update

http://www.covenantseminary.edu/

New Web Site

If you haven’t been to our Web site recently, the next time you log on, you’ll notice that it has undergone some major renovations. Stay tuned as we expand our Ministry Resources section and update the Web site to make it more user friendly. We hope you’ll enjoy these aesthetic and practical improvements.

God continues to bless our efforts to raise money for the

By His Grace, For His Glory capital campaign. In April, the Seminary received a $1.3 million challenge grant from the J. E. and L. E. Mabee Foundation, Inc. In order to claim the grant money, which will go toward the construction cost of our new academic and administration building, the Seminary must raise $1.3 million for this purpose by April 2007.

The grant money, plus other funds committed to the campaign so far, brings us to $8.4 million—more than two-thirds of the way toward our total campaign goal of $12.5 million! Praise the Lord for His faithfulness. Please continue to pray for His blessing on the campaign.

25

Zachary Eswine Kindled Fire: How the Methods of C. H. Spurgeon Can Help Your Preaching (Christian Focus, 2006)

Jay Sklar Sin, Impurity, Sacrifice, Atonement: The Priestly Conceptions (Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2005)

www.covenantseminary.edu

SEMINARY NEWS

(CONT.)

International Women Students This group of women, who last semester represented 10 countries, meets together every Wednesday of the school year on the Covenant Seminary campus. They are either the wives of international men students or single women who are braving the challenges of studying in a foreign country. As of the spring, the group members were from Togo and Nigeria (West Africa), Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, the Netherlands, Scotland, Germany, Brazil, and New Zealand. In preparation for worldwide Gospel ministries, we seek to serve one another through building relationships. We support one another in many ways, including meeting practical needs, praying for and encouraging each other to use our gifts and capabilities, learning about each other’s beautifully diverse cultures, and offering opportunities for leadership and contribution.

In addition to our weekly gathering, we serve the Covenant community by cooking soup every Tuesday during cold months, meet with the entire international community once a month (inviting interested friends), reach out to the wider seminary community in a variety of ways, and support one another in practical ways through activities such as babysitting and cooking for one another. We allow our stories to intersect COVENANT | Fall 2006

and overlap, realizing that we are all part of God’s story as He leads us on from here.

This past spring, we invited the Seminary’s beloved president, Bryan Chapell, to attend one of our meetings.

It was a rich time of fellowship with the opening of the Word from Dr. Chapell and the opening of the hearts and lives of these strong, beautiful women who are ready to, as missionary Jim Elliot said, give “what [they] cannot keep to gain what [they] cannot lose.” The women presented Dr. Chapell with a small book compiled of personal notes to him regarding what brought them to Covenant and what they are taking away from their seminary experience.

The presence of international students at the Seminary is a true endorsement of the quality of education offered here. No advertisement or soliciting is done internationally; our students come solely through recommendations. Almost all of them return to their home countries. While at Covenant, nationals and internationals alike are stretched and invited to grow into a true expression of God’s worldwide kingdom community.

Susan Bayer Susan has worked part-time at Covenant Seminary for 4 years. She and her husband, New Testament professor Hans Bayer (a native German), lived in Scotland and Germany for 12 1/2 years.

26

ALUMNI

news

Births Apologetics, Christian Thought Through the Centuries, and Romans at Delaware County Christian High School in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania. He continues to work on his doctoral studies in historical theology.

Dave (MDiv ’00) and Kari Anderson (GC ’00) praise the Lord for the safe arrival of Emma Kathryn (born January 10).

Big sister Elise and big brothers Ben and Ian adore their newest sibling. Dave is currently serving as associate pastor of Wheatland Presbyterian Church in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Jeremy (MDiv ’05) and Amy Pinner (MAC ’04) Bedenbaugh rejoice in the birth of their first child, Jude Elton, born January 25.

Jeremy has accepted a call as assistant pastor of spiritual formation at Greentree Community Church (EPC), in Kirkwood, Missouri.

Jeremy oversees adult education and discipleship.

Updates Congratulations to Per (MDiv ’99) and Beth (MATS ’03) Almquist, on Per’s ordination as the assistant pastor and church planting apprentice at Christ the Redeemer Presbyterian in Portland, Maine on February 12. Rev. Doug Warren conducted the service, ruling elder Troy Hansen gave the charge, and Rev. Mark Weathers (MDiv ’98) preached, with Rev. Doug Domin bearing other responsibilities.

The Almquists plan to plant a church in Maine in 2007.

Chad (MDiv ’00) and Christie Brewer welcome their daughter, Charis Jane, born December 1, 2005. Rusty St. John (MDiv ’99), pastor of Oakwood Presbyterian Church in State College, Pennsylvania, performed the baptism. The Brewers are in their third year serving at Penn State, where Chad is the RUF minister.

Matt (MDiv ’99) and Jeanne Christian, serving at Intown Community Church in Atlanta, Georgia, welcome their second child, Karen Julia, born February 28. Karen joins her older brother, Riley.

Congratulations to John (MDiv ’03) and Erin Franks on the birth of their son, Caleb Alexander, born January 31. Caleb joins his two sisters, Callie (age 4) and Anna Bray (age 2).

John is serving as pastor of youth and families at First Presbyterian Church in Augusta, Georgia.

On February 21, Savannah Grace was born to Steve (MDiv ’00) and Kelly Wooden Marusich (MAC ’00). She weighed 8 lbs.

11 oz. and was 21 inches long. Steve just finished six years of service as the campus minister for RUF at the University of Maryland. In June, he and Kelly went on staff with MTW to take RUF to England in a partnership between Reformed University Ministries and Mission to the World.

Paddy (MDiv ’77) and Sheila Cook have been serving with Presbyterian Evangelical Fellowship International (PEF) for 18 years. Reverend Cook continues to travel to European countries to assist with developing leadership among nationals through discipleship. The goal is to equip these leaders to serve as ordained ministers in Presbyterian and Reformed churches.

The Cooks live in Lookout Mountain, Georgia.

Davina (MDiv ’05) and Kyle Perret (MDiv ’05) welcomed their firstborn child John Thomas on February 7. “JT” weighed 6 lbs.

14 oz. and was 21 inches long. Also in February, Kyle was ordained at St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Columbus, Georgia, where he serves as the youth pastor.

Congratulations to Mark (MDiv ’05) and Robin Dawson on his new position as church planting intern with Grace Community Church in Fletcher, North Carolina. Over the next year, Mark will pursue licensure and ordination, raise support for the initial stages of the church plant, and gain church planting experience in as many ministry areas as possible.

David P. (MDiv ’95) and Tracy Smith welcomed Katherine Leigh into their family on September 22, 2005. Katie joins 2-year-old Isaac Alexander and 5-year-old Gresham Machen. David teaches

Alumni, we consider you family, and we’d like to keep in touch!

Please let us know where in the world God has called you, and fill us in on what you’re doing there. Update us about your family as well.

Send e-mails to alumni@ covenantseminary.edu and written correspondence to Alumni News, Attn: Joel Hathaway, 12330 Conway Road, St. Louis, MO 63141.

After 18 years as senior pastor at Peace Presbyterian Church in Cary, North Carolina, Steve (MDiv ’77) and Ginny Bostrom accepted a call from Rocky Mountain Presbytery to plant a church in Helena, Montana. Steve previously served as organizing pastor of Covenant Presbyterian Church in Easley, South Carolina, from 1981 to 1988. Steve and Ginny have eight children, four of them—Micah, Noah, Jesse, and Isaac—have accompanied Steve and Ginny to Montana.

Dan (MDiv ’01) and Mako Gilchrist give praise for their new daughter, Manami Grace, born February 12 and weighing in at 7 lbs. 7 oz. “Manami” is made up of two Japanese characters that mean “love” and “beauty.”

We Want To Hear From You!

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ALUMNI NEWS

(CONT.)

God’s Future Church

His Kingdom, Our Calling

After eight years of RUF campus ministry at the University of Washington, Ed (MDiv ’98) Dunnington accepted a call to serve as the church planter for Christ the King Presbyterian Church in Roanoke, Virginia. Ed, wife Stefanie, and their two boys—Patrick and Hunter—moved to Roanoke in March. Ed and Stefanie also adopted a beautiful little girl, Adelaine Destiny, who was born on December 13, 2005.

October 10–12, 2006 Covenant Theological Seminary St. Louis, Missouri

Charles Kuykendall (MDiv ’03) was ordained as the solo pastor of Grace Church in Easley, South Carolina, on November 6, 2005.

Rev. David Sinclair (MDiv ’84) delivered the sermon, Jimmy Agan (MDiv ’95) delivered the charge to the pastor, and Ed Kleiman gave the charge to the congregation.

After six years of ministry in Paris, France, Mark (MDiv ’92) and Marti Mylin moved to Montauban, a city of about 55,000 residents that is located 30 miles north of Toulouse. They will serve by encouraging and training elders, Bible study leaders, and church members. Long-term projects include planting daughter congregations and helping other churches in the region.

Lifetime of Ministry Courses

Fall 2006

Course number

John (MDiv ’84) and Cathy Rug serve in Viña del Mar, Chile.

The Rugs continue to make inroads with the 12.9% of Chile’s population who are deaf, blind, mute, or otherwise differently enabled. Last year’s efforts included a drug prevention program as well as programs on basic nutrition. The Rugs continue to teach Braille and computer technology to both sighted and blind students and motivate church plants to reach out to the differently enabled of their neighborhoods. John and Cathy have entered their 21st year of ministry in Chile.

Sept. 29 – 30 Urban Church Planting in North America

CG510E

Anthony (MATS ’93) and Ceclia Tan, who have been serving in a church in Singapore for the last 28 years, give praise and thanks to God for His faithful guidance and provision of resources in completing their building project.

Invest 24 hours or just a few days to gain solid Biblical teaching that will invigorate your ministry.

Oct. 13 – 14

Small Group Ministry

CE561E

Women’s Ministry

CE55E

Jan. 5 – 6 Creating a Christian Education Ministry

Devotional How to Pray for Your Wife: A 31-Day Guide by Mark Weathers (MDiv ’98) will be released by Crossway Books in September. Mark currently serves as the co-pastor at Providence Presbyterian Church in Concord, North Carolina. Mark and wife Tara have three sons.

PT536 CE505E

Jan. 12 – 13 Understanding Prophecy Today

OT560E

Jan. 16 – 19 Eldership: A Servant Partnership

PT546

Spring 2007

Feb. 2– 3

Geoff Volker (MDiv ’75) serves as the director of in-depth studies and one of the pastors of New Covenant Bible Fellowship in Mesa, Arizona. He and wife Priscilla have four grown children—Geoffrey (age 29), Zachary (age 26), Samantha (age 24), and Debby (age 21).

Oct. 6– 7

January 2007

Jan. 2– 5 Worship in Today’s Church

In April of this year, George M. Stulac (DMin ’93) celebrated 25 years as senior pastor of Memorial Presbyterian Church in St. Louis, Missouri. He is the author of a commentary on James (InterVarsity Press, 1993) and is president of Mission Metro St. Louis.

Feb. 2– 3

Feb. 9 – 10

Discipling Youth

CE527E

Muslim-Christian Relations WM542E Relationships in God’s Image

PT566E

Feb. 16 – 17 Developing Lay Leaders in the Church

CG550E

Feb. 16 – 17

Leading Music and Worship

PT538E

Mar. 9 – 10

Ministry to Singles

CE552E

Mar. 9 – 10 World Missions in Global Issues WM515E

Covenant Seminary offers these courses for a minimal fee. Call the Admissions office at 1.800.264.8064 or 314.434.4044 for more information.

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BRIEFLY STATED

Executive Editor David Wicker Managing Editor Stacey Fitzgerald Editor Jackie Fogas Assistant Copy Editor Nicolle Olivastro Photography Joel Hathaway Kelly Park Photography Design and Production 501creative, inc.

Circulation Nicolle Olivastro Editorial Contributors Jerram Barrs Susan Bayer Christine Dow Jackie Fogas Joel Hathaway Rick Matt C. Ben Mitchell Nicolle Olivastro Covenant Theological Seminary 12330 Conway Road St. Louis, Missouri 63141 Tel: 314.434.4044 Fax: 314.434.4819 E-mail: covenantmagazine@covenantseminary.edu Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture references are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®, ©1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission.

All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (esv) are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News publishers. Used by permission.

All rights reserved.

“Though he [God] has real pleasure in the creature’s

holiness and happiness,

yet this is not properly any pleasure which he receives from the creature.

For these things are what he gives the creature. They are wholly and entirely from him.

His rejoicing therein is rather a rejoicing in his own

acts, and his own glory

expressed in those acts, than a joy derived from the creature.

God’s joy

is dependent on nothing besides his own act, which he

exerts with an absolute

and independent power.”

Volume 21, Number 3. ©2006

– johnathan edwardS – The End For Which God Created The World

Covenant is published by Covenant Theological Seminary, the National Seminary of the Presbyterian Church in America.

The purpose of Covenant Seminary is to train servants of the triune God to walk with God, to interpret and communicate God’s Word, and to lead God’s people.

CAMPUS

“ O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.”

– Psalm 8:1 (esv)

With the start of the new school year, pray for wisdom, endurance, and open hearts as professors meet and minister to another class of new students.

Pray for students as they adjust to the school schedule and juggle school, work, and family responsibilities.

Ask God to bestow an extra measure of grace on new students who are struggling to adjust to the new environment and school demands.

As speakers prepare for the October Connect Conference, pray for them to be sensitive to the Spirit’s leading so they will communicate what He wants His people to hear. Pray for this to be a spiritually renewing time for all attendees.

Praise the Lord for His provision so far with the capital campaign fundraising. Continue to intercede for the Seminary regarding this effort.

For the weekly chapel services, ministry lunches, and other events around campus, pray that these would provide refreshment to the members of the seminary community.

NATIONAL

serving in India, as they seek additional support for their Covenant School to cover teacher and staff expenses as well as provide scholarships to the 610 students, grades K through 8.

INTERNATIONAL

Praise God for the work of current DMin student Pete Mitchell and wife Ruth as they continue their service in Marseille, France. Praise Him that one newly elected elder in their church and another elder-in-training want to pursue ongoing theological training for laymen. Also pray that the Gospel would impact the hearts of the unbelievers and young believers who are part of this congregation.

After nearly 31 years, Bruce (MDiv ’74) and Susan Young continue to see God grow His Kingdom in Japan.

As they serve, pray that they would continue to see the hand of God in the lives of national families such as the Tsujis, in the multiplication of marriages as exemplified in the lives of their own children, and through the church planting efforts of the Nagoya team.

– Colossians 3:16

“ Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.”

Please pray for Lian (MDiv ’01) and Clara Tombing,

For the different faiths represented in our nation, praise God that we all have the freedom to freely worship as we choose. Pray that the truth of Jesus as the sole way to God would be evident to spiritual seekers and that it would permeate our nation and culture and lead to revival in the land.

Please pray for the Dunningtons in their transition from campus ministry in Washington state to church planting in Virginia. Pray for the students they are leaving behind.

Pray for Geoff (MDiv ’75) and Priscilla Volker

for their work at New Covenant Bible Fellowship in Mesa, Arizona. As a pastor and director of in-depth studies, please pray for continued strength and encouragement as they witness to the people of that community.

Pray for holy boldness and faithfulness to the Word of God as pastors seek to rightly divide the Word of Truth.

Intercede for youth leaders who serve a generation of students who believe that truth is relative. Pray that they would speak clearly and with wisdom as they encourage the next generation to stand firm on the Word of Truth while engaging the ideas of this age.

“ Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another, be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.”

– 1 Peter 3:88

Rev. Anthony (MATS ’93) and Ceclia Tan have been serving a church in Singapore for the last 28 years. Give praise and thanks to God for His faithful guidance and provision of resources in completing their building project.

INTERCESSOR

Ask God to guard students from the temptation to seek knowledge for knowledge’s sake. Pray that their hearts would remain malleable throughout their time here.

Fall 2006 A Quarterly Calendar of Prayer Requests for the Covenant Seminary Community

Associate Professor of World Mission

J. Nelson Jennings

Covenant Comes to You… Professors’ fall Speaking Schedules Bob Burns

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Oc tober 21–22 Valley Springs Presbyterian Church; Roseville, CA. Missions conference.

N ovember 4–5 Timonium Presbyterian Church; Timonium, MD. Missions conference.

TOPIC:

Oc tober 27–29 St. Andrews Presbyterian Church; Columbus, GA. Marriage conference.

“Christlike Marriage.”

Assistant Professor of Practical Theology

Dan Zink

S undays, August–October Hope Presbyterian Church; Collinsville, IL. Preaching on the parables of Jesus; teaching the Westminster Confession of Faith in adult Sunday school. (For details visit www.hopecollinsville.com.)

Professor of Systematic Theology

Robert A. Peterson

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Jerram Barrs

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David B. Calhoun Oc tober 14 –16 Fairfield Presbyterian Church; Fairton, NJ. 325th anniversary celebration.

Professor of Church History w

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Oc tober 20–21 Fourth Presbyterian Church (EPC); Bethesda, MD. Men’s meeting and marriage seminar.

Zack Eswine

S undays, August–November Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church; Webster Groves, MO.

Assistant Professor of Homiletics Director of the Doctor of Ministry Program w

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S eptember 9 –10 Lake Williamson (retreat center); Carlinville, IL. Grace Church family retreat.

Tates Creek Presbyterian Church; Lexington, KY. Bridge Class retreat. w Oc tober 20 –21

Oc tober 12–14 Christ Bible Seminary; Nagoya, Japan. COURSE: “The Gospel and Japanese Culture.”

Director of the Center for Ministry Leadership and Adjunct Professor of Pastoral Theology

A ugust 7–18 Covenant Theological Seminary; St. Louis, MO. Pastoral Theology class.

S eptember 15–17 Covenant Presbyterian Church; Issaquah, WA. Family camp.

S eptember 24 Cornerstone Presbyterian Church; St. Louis, MO. Oc tober 5–8 City Church of Honolulu Mission; Honolulu, HI. Presbytery meeting.

Oc tober 27–29 Knox Presbyterian Church (EPC); Harrisonburg Township, MI. TOPIC : “Engaging Culture.”

S eptember 16 New Song Community Church; Baltimore, MD. Chesapeake Presbytery meeting.

TOPICS: “Sustaining Pastoral Excellence” and “Ministry for the Long Haul.”

Professor of Christian Studies and Contemporary Culture and Resident Scholar of the Francis A. Schaeffer Institute w

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N ovember 10–12 Redeemer Presbyterian Church; San Antonio, TX. Christianity and contemporary culture conference.

Hans Bayer Associate Professor of New Testament w W ednesdays, September 13–November 29

Central Presbyterian Church (EPC); St. Louis, MO. TOPIC: “Islam and the Bible.”

Ukraine Biblical Seminary; Kiev, Ukraine. TOPIC: “Acts and Pauline Epistles.”

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Covenant Theological Seminary 12330 Conway Road Saint Louis, Missouri 63141

Nonprofit Org. U.S. Postage

PAID

Covenant Theological Seminary

change service requested

STUDENT PROFILE

Waiting Promises of God on the

Aaron Layton (MDiv ’08) kneels in the soft grass to pull weeds from around the legs of a bench.

Now in his second year at Covenant Theological Seminary, Aaron can regularly be found busy at his part-time job, mowing grass, shoveling snow, sowing seeds, or working to beautify the Seminary grounds in some other way. Nearly three years ago, Aaron sat on a bench just like this one, seeking the Lord for confirmation of his decision to attend seminary.

“That was a hard time,” Aaron recalls.

“Everything was up in the air. After eight years of teaching, my job had been cut, and I couldn’t find another job anywhere. I had just started wrestling with the doctrine of predestination and was seeking to know how to really understand the Bible. I had started to question everything.

Everything, that is, but my trust in Christ for salvation.”

The promises of God in His Word served as a source of stability for Aaron and his wife, Gretchen, through this period of transition. Aaron, who was born in St. Louis, involved himself in a particular church environment that left him with many unanswered spiritual questions. “I was in circles where the emphasis was on the leading of the Spirit more than on sound teaching,” Aaron says. “Everything was more emotive.

Scripture wasn’t the primary source of revelation. There remained a lot of uncertainty.” As a result, God began speaking His absolute truths from Scripture—His infinite love, glorious grace, and eternal salvation through Christ alone.

Also, Aaron was reading Chosen By God, by R. C. Sproul.

“I hated parts of the book, but other parts made me laugh, and still other parts made me cry. I prayed, ‘Lord, what in the world is going on?’ All the while, it was just the right challenge for the right time. I said, ‘Honestly, Lord, you are leading me somewhere, even though I don’t know where that is.’ ” That same year, Aaron worked with a summer program. He spent many lunch breaks reading his Bible and other books by R. C. Sproul. One day, a man walked by and noticed the Bible and the book. Aaron and the man—then-recent Covenant Seminary graduate Jose Figueroa (MDiv ’02)—began talking about ministry and seminary. “Two weeks earlier, I began to pray about studying the Bible in school—I just didn’t know where,” Aaron recalls.

During Aaron’s first visit to the Covenant Seminary campus, Jose and others kept asking him: “What is the Lord calling you to do?”

“It had been so long since I had thought that way,” Aaron confesses. “At my church, no one was encouraged to pursue ministry outside of the immediate congregation, not even to go to the mission field or plant other churches. When my wife and I graduated from college, we had the vision that we’d go anywhere the Lord led. But somewhere along the way we lost that. Then, while sitting in that meeting with Luke Bobo [director of the Francis A. Schaeffer Institute] and Jose, I was nearly in tears, overwhelmed with the feeling that maybe the Lord was not done with me.” The promise of God’s faithfulness drove Aaron to wait on the Lord’s presence and peace. “I just sat on that bench and prayed. I didn’t need to see the money or the avenues of His provision. But I needed His peace—and He gave it,” Aaron remembers. “That night, I told my wife that we were right where we needed to be. “I knew that God wanted me to be equipped for ministry.” Aaron continues, “At first I didn’t know what that might look like, but now, after talking with professors and being encouraged by the enthusiasm of other students, I get excited about being a professor myself. I love the idea of having one foot in each place. I’d like to be on staff at a church but work as a teacher who instructs others in God’s Word. God has wired me so that my academic side—which includes study, preparation, and teaching—needs to be satisfied.”

Though he speaks passionately, Aaron knows that the direction of his life might change. “When you’ve been around people who have given their lives for the Lord’s service, you find inspiration,” he says, considering other students. “For these families, ministry preparation costs something. Often it costs a great deal. That testimony pushes me further and further out of selfishness, away from the American Dream. Serving God by being in ministry will cost something, but whatever the cost, He makes you ready for it.”

Joel Hathaway Joel Hathaway (MDiv ‘04) serves as director of alumni and church relations for Covenant Seminary.